


Possessed Heart

by goldgalaxytea



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Almost Dying, Anger, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, Choking, Comfort, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Reader, Fighting, Hugging, Hugs, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Kisses, Kissing, Loss of Control, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Magic, Magic Healing, Mind Control, Minor Injuries, Multi, Near Death Experience, No pronouns used for the Reader, Non-Graphic Violence, Not the good kind of choking, Other, Physical hurt, Rage, Reader Insert, Reader-Insert, Romance, Tears, The bad kind of choking, Violence, gender neutral reader, hug, injuries, kiss, male reader - Freeform, mind control magic, not canon, rage magic, so anyone can read it, the reader is the apprentice, x Reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22244395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldgalaxytea/pseuds/goldgalaxytea
Summary: While on the hunt for Lucio - you, Muriel & Morga manage to capture and arrest his Courtiers. That is, all but one.Fortunately you find them quickly. Unfortunately they already have something wicked planned.
Relationships: Apprentice/Muriel (The Arcana), Muriel (The Arcana)/Reader, Muriel (The Arcana)/You
Comments: 8
Kudos: 68





	Possessed Heart

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE NOTE: This story takes place sometime later on in Muriel's route. The apprentice and Muriel are in an established relationship.

You, Muriel and Morga had already dealt with the other Courtiers. With Morga's expertise you managed to easily track them down and then not so easily escort them back to Vesuvia. Currently the ones you had already captured were enjoying their luxurious stay in the jail cells underneath the abandoned Coliseum.

Your latest catch, Vlastomil, was standing between you and Muriel on your journey back to the city. His arms were chained but you each held one of his arms in case he tried to make a run for it (he had been a very slippery worm to catch). After that fiasco, the only one left to arrest was fiery courtier, Vulgora. You and your traveling party had come face to face with them quite a few times but each time they had always managed to avoid capture. Each time they put up a fight, the three of you barely able to over power them before they give you a smug smirk and escaped before any of you could even blink.

Luckily though you knew where they had scurried off to this time. As you reached the edge of the city, Morga caught wind of Volgora's trail once again. She muttered a quick "I'll meet you there" before bolting off the way you came from.

You and Muriel walked in a peaceful silence through the city, each of you focused on keeping your prisoner in sight and in line. However that peace quickly shattered as the Coliseum loamed in the distance. The abandoned structure casting a dark shadow onto anything it could reach, destroying any light it could find. Muriel's eyes grew dark as you crossed the threshold, his mind weighed down by terrible memories.

You hurried towards the cells, wanting to get Muriel out of there as soon as possible. It was hard for him everytime you came here. The old ruins lay empty, but to him it still held the ghosts of his past. As soon as you reached the cells the guards unlocked an empty one for you. Vlastomil let out a faint oof as you tossed him in beside the other Courtiers. You gave a quick farewell to the guards before grabbing Muriel's hand and escorted him back the way you two had came. He trailed behind you, body tense and eyes lowered.

As you came back out into the arena you turned back to check on him, your heart squeezing painfully at the sight before you. Unshed tears swam in his clouded emerald eyes. Expression blank and emotionless as he stared at something you couldn't see. It was a sunny day but the walls of the Coliseum didn't allow any of that light inside. The shadows made the arena feel colder, sadder, scarier.

Your feet instinctively took you closer to him, grabbing his other hand and rubbing small comforting circles with your thumbs. His body relaxed slightly at your gentle touch but his muscles were still too tense, his gaze still too distant. Slowly, so that you wouldn't startle him, you move your hands up to gently hold his face. Thumbs stroking across his cheeks in soft loving motions.

"Muriel," You whispered “I-”

"What do we have here? Have the puny mortals COME TO PLAY?" A sinister voice shouted.

We quickly jumped apart. The new presence snapped Muriel out of his daze, automatically moving to stand in front of me, using his large body as a shield. While the gesture was sweet it wasn't really needed. You knew how to handle yourself in a fight pretty well by now. You moved to stand beside him instead of behind. He was clearly upset by that but didn't move to stop you. Your eyes quickly found the owner of the voice. Head tilting back as you glared at the figure atop the arena's wall. They almost looked like they were on fire, their red outfit lit up by the fiery sun shining directly down onto their back. Vulgora smiled evilly at you both.

"How are you here? Morga tracked your trail out of Vesuvia!" You shouted up at them. They only laughed, their pointed teeth flashing in the light.

"It’s not even difficult to fake a trail. Yet as you can see that stupid insect was dumb enough to fall for it." They directed their sharp smile at you specifically "Now! You will let my associates go!"

"Never!" You glared up at them, arms crossed and feet firmly planted in place.

Their smile never broke as they reached for something on their belt.

"Well in that case, I'll have to dispose of you."

Muriel held his staff ready and you conjured an arrow in your bow, ready to fight. Vulgora’s gaze snapped to your lover, their smile growing impossibly large. They held up a bronze sword hilt straight up to the sky, flat smooth metal where a blade should rest. As the hilt touched the sunlight a fire from the smooth hilt burned and grew until it formed a fiery blade.

"On second thought… why don't you take care of them for me, scourge?" They smirked.

Before any of us could react Vulgura jumped down, impaling the fiery blade into Muriel's chest, right where his heart was. The large man collapsed to his knees, body completely still, eyes wide. Vulgura pulled the sword out, the blade once again missing. They laughed and walked off towards the jail cells. You rushed forward, a healing spell already ready but when you stood in front of him there was no wound. You quickly noticed though his eyes have fallen shut. Though what was even more concerning was he still hasn’t moved an inch, yet his body was shaking violently.

"Muriel…?" You gently held his face. "What's wrong? What did they do to you?" His face scrunched up in pain.

"Get away from me…"

"What? Why?"

"...not safe."

"What do you mean by that?" Your questions fell on deaf ears. He had stopped shaking and was deathly still. You put your magic out, searching him for what could be wrong. You felt a fire at his heart and your blood ran cold. It was dark and evil, like hellfire.

"Muriel-"

Your world spins as you were launched across the arena, slamming into the wall so hard it cracked. You blinked away spots as you watched a dark figure with glowing eyes loaming in the center of the arena. The sun behind them bright and burning. As they slowly approached you gasped. Physically it was Muriel but that definitely wasn't him. His stance was fierce, his face angry with a literal fire in his eyes. His pupils were black coals while a red hot fire burned from them. You were trapped there, in pain and shock as he drew closer. He stopped right in front of you. Face so close you could feel the heat of the flames on your face, so hot it burned. Your eyes connected, yours full of sadness and fear while his were full of hatred and anger.

"Muriel…?" You whispered. It hurt to speak. He flinched so slightly it almost seemed like it had been a trick of the light. "Please… I don't want to fight you." The flames died slightly. "I know this isn't you. They did something to you, I don't know what but I can help you, I promise that I can. You just need to calm down." You rambled on, trying to break him out of the spell but also distracting him enough to give you a minute to regain your focus so that you can heal yourself.

As soon as you stopped talking his fist raised slowly. You closed your eyes, quickly healing yourself. Your eyes shut open and you hurled your body to the side, nearly avoiding his punch. The wall where you just stood crumbled and cracked, pieces falling to the floor as dust clouded the air. You crept quietly, trying to avoid alerting him until you could figure out how to reverse whatever Vulgora had done to him. A healing spell perhaps? Probably one to reverse spells. The only problem is you didn't know the exact spell they did nor did you know how powerful their magic was. Either way it was worth a shot. You had to do something.

A nearly silent footstep behind you startles you from your thoughts. You whipped around, the spell starting to form as you were forcefully shoved to the ground. Muriel kneeled over you, his large frame holding yours in place. One of his hands held both of yours down above your head while the other held your throat. His grip was firm but it wasn't enough to hurt you or hinder your breathing. Your eyes connected with his as you desperately tried every spell you knew that could possibly help him. But each one was met with failure. Seeing that you had gone silent, his fist closed tighter. You gasped, breaths starting to become more difficult.

"Muriel please I know you're still in there-" His grip tightened further. Tears welled in your eyes as you desperately tried to bring air into your crushed throat.

"Mur-iel" You barely choked out. Your vision faded to black and you lost track of time. Vaguely you felt his hands release you. You stayed as still as you could as your breathing evened out and your vision slowly came back. His gaze stayed on you but his eyes were wide and he was shaking violently. The fires in his eyes had shrunk and the once hellish red now glowed a sickly yellow. The spell was weakening but he wasn't free yet. Still a little out of it from almost being choked to death you could only think of one more thing to try. You slowly brought your hands to his face, softly cupping his cheeks and brought your lips to his. You kissed him with everything you had. Putting forth all the love you had for him into that one action. His shaking decreased and then stopped. Slowly he started to kiss back, hands moving to rest softly on your shoulders. After a few moments you pulled back, smiling softly at him.

"Are you okay?" His face fell at your question, the memories of what had happened making tears flood his eyes. He crawled off of you, hesitantly sitting on the ground next to you.

"You shouldn't be asking that…" He refused to meet your gaze, instead staring in horror at his hands. "You're the one who almost died…" You quickly got up, moving to hold him but he flinched away from your touch. "Stop! Don't touch me, I don't want to hurt you again…" Your heart dropped at that.

"Muriel… it wasn't your fault. You weren't in control, you were under a spell that made you do those things. You would never have hurt me if you'd been yourself." You spoke softly, your words sincere. He was quiet besides his sobs. After a few minutes he spoke, voice barely audible.

"Yes I'm okay… are you?" He finally met your eyes, tears staining his cheeks, concern and love in his eyes. You smiled softly, slowly reaching your hand out towards his face, stopping a few inches away in case he still didn't want to be touched. He closed the distance, gently leaning his cheek into your hand, eyes softly fluttering shut.

"I'm okay, thanks to you. Even with the spell you didn't kill me. It was close yes, but you stopped. You fought the spell because you didn't want to hurt me. I trust you, I know you wouldn't hurt me on purpose." You gently wiped the tears from his cheek. An action that was in vain because at your words they fell harder. He gently wrapped his arms around you and pulled you to his chest, burying his face in your neck.

"I'm so glad you're okay." He spoke softly into your ear. "I was so scared I was going to lose you." You gently stroked his hair, trying to soothe him. "The mission we're on is dangerous… something bad could happen to us any minute. I'm so scared of that happening… but I'm also scared of never telling you this if I were to lose you." His words cut off abruptly, broken by a sobbed hiccup. He spoke your name softly, his feelings clear in his voice "I… I love you."

Your own tears fell as you hugged him tighter. "Oh Muriel, I love you too." You both sat there for awhile, just crying and holding each other. Softly spoken words of comfort and affection filling the space between you. Yes the city of Vesuvia needed you, now more than ever since Vulgora had freed the other Courtiers while you were busy trying to help Muriel. But right now that wasn’t important. Right now you needed each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact! This story was inspired by a dream I had. In it I was at an amusement park with Muriel and I was sitting on his lap while we were chilling on a picnic bench in a food area. A worker comes out with a sword and she holds it up to the sunlight and it gives it the power to turn people evil and be controlled by the owner of the sword. The amusement park was trying to build an army so they stab Muriel with the sword. He tries to fight it and is shaking violently. I held his face and tried to help him. He says the spell will only break if I love him and I tell him but I do love him but it's too late it's taken control and he tries to fight me but I ran away as the dream ended.  
> Since the courtiers each relate to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Vulgora (War) was perfect for this. Since Vlastomil (Pestilence) has his disease powers and worm babies obviously everyone else should have something cool. I took elements of my dream and elements of stuff that relate to war. The sword from my dream was perfect since swords are a very common weapon of violence (plus I feel like Vulgora would love swords). I added in the fire blade because fire is a common symbol of destruction and rage. The blade of fire also came slightly from my dream since they used the fire of the sun to activate it. Also in cannon Vlastomil was able to give Lucio the ability to spread disease, so I feel Vulgora would have something similar that would cause anger in others. Hence why they stabbed Muriel in the heart, they implanted war into him. Him shaking and trying to fight it also came from my dream. Along with the softly holding his face (I couldn't not add it multiple times, he is baby uwu).


End file.
